More people are taking mental health days as sick days

When your alarm went off this morning, did thoughts of calling in sick go through your mind?

Author:
Valerie Lego

Published:
7:23 AM EDT July 19, 2017

Updated:
7:25 AM EDT July 19, 2017

When your alarm went off this morning, did thoughts of calling in sick go through your mind?

More and more working Americans are feeling burned out and they're using sick days as mental health days to help them cope.

The American Psychiatric Association Foundation says they have evidence that employees have been doing this for years, but many have felt guilty.

What's great is that the trend is to talk more about mental health, and we're not talking serious mental health -- we're talking about what's needed to maintain good mental health.

Thirty to 40 percent of workers say their jobs are extremely stressful. Just like diet and exercise for a healthy heart, you need to decompress for a healthy mind.

Here are few creative things that companies that are doing to help with mental health:

American Express is offering employees meditation sessions at work to help employees de-stress. Smaller companies are allowing employees to bring their dogs to work. Google allows employee naptime. Others are installing light boxes to help change mood and get rid of those harsh fluorescent lights.

Definitely progress and some creative ways to help employees -- but it may still not be enough, because right now, in America one in six workers are medicated for mental health.

It's time for sick days to include not just colds, but also mental fatigue.

More information from the American Psychiatric Association Foundation can be found by clicking here.